Eat Local

Worst most bland food I’ve ever tasted. Overpriced and run by managers with a holier than thou attitude. No thanks

I have noticed this place often and decided to check it out. B When you go in you see a set of refrigerators where the meals are located. It would be helpful if there were signs stating the type of food, but perhaps they want people to look around.
I was asked to try some food, but passed (it seemed like a hassle to them). The food comes in a couple of sizes, but the small meals did not look very filling.
I had a pot roast and an oat bran brownie. You just put the container in the oven, but the packaging is not great (when pulling it from oven, the edges broke off). The pot roast was pretty good – the beef was nice, but could have used more onion and flavor. I did like the thick gravy. I really liked the honey nut bar – I was glad I bought that.
I think this place is good and the price more reasonable if you care about really healthy food, but I am not sure if I will go back.

Walked into the location, eager to show my friend the great food selection. There were 3 staff working, no one even bothered to greet us, much less ask if we needed any assistance. We were in there nearly 10 minutes, and no acknowledgement at all. We left with nothing, not impressed at all.

Sure there’s room for improvement, and I’d love to see a few more vegan options, but I’m a fan, all the way.
Local Eats is not meant to be cheap, it’s not meant to be better than home cooking (it’s frozen! Did you notice?!), but it *is* meant to be a go-​to when you need it and keep you away from the pizza delivery redial. In that regard it is a big success.
We have 2 entrees in our fridge at all times. Sorbet too, plus some simple sauces for pasta. Lifesavers, all.

New to the area, my boyfriend and I stumbled by and decided stop in, the whole concept is great! We got the single chicken korma and a single chicken makhani. They had an awesome deal of $ 5 off for an entrée/​2 single portions-​so we ended up getting a $ 6 bottle of wine on top of it! We got some nann and rice from a local store and ended up sharing the chicken korma, which was a perfect amount of food for the both of us without being super full. It was very tasty, we excited to try their other meal options they offer. I noticed it is a bit pricey but I guess you’re getting what you pay for, and I thought it was good :)

I would say 70% of the things i have bought are pretty okaaaay… The other 30% are not suitable for reheating and/​or are pretty bland and can use the addition of spices. For the first time in my life i think whole foods is a better deal for frozen organic local food. Verdict: try it if you love bland locally own food and have 70.00 dollars to spend on two days of meals that aren’t fresh ;)

I tried several Indian chicken curries and Wild Alaskan Cod. The taste is awesome!
If the prices were little bit cheaper I would probably stop cooking and survive on their food. However you do get a $ 4 discount when you buy three two-​serving-​dishes.
The staff is friendly :)

Bought the beef meatballs and then the meatloaf — To make sandwiches with.
Both were bland and so — so. Bland and so — so should not be semi-​pricey.
I’m trying the gnocci next — which the salesgirls recommended as very popular. Maybe the more expensive stuff is better … I will see.
The staff was great — the owner sincere — probably much healthier food than the average .but the meat-​ball sandwich was just so-​so.
Update: the gnocci was so — so also. The chicken curried selection was the best of the lot but nothing to write home about.

Eat Local always seems to get mixed reviews, probably because yes, you could get takeout for about the same price and it would mostly taste as good, but I don’t really think that’s a fair comparison. If you were to buy all the various locally-​sourced, organic, non-​GMO etc. ingredients from Whole Paycheck, you would probably pay that much for the base ingredients but you’d still have to take the time and trouble of prepping, cooking and washing up as well. So if you don’t care about any of that stuff, fair enough, you’ll probably not find it worthwhile to shop here, but if you were going to anyway then you might as well save a huge amount of time by getting their pre-​made meals. Plus they have a good selection of local wines and condiments.

It’s not very often I get suckered into writing a review, but bland??? really people?
I recently moved into the neighborhood and am so glad I found this place. So far everything I have tried is delicious –Full flavor, healthy, and easy to buy/​keep on hand for lazy nights. If you prefer foods that rocks your tastebuds go for the curry dishes! Price? Sure, it sounds expensive compared to lesser frozen foods, and, admittedly, I had sticker shock my first visit. BUT, in reality the food is restaurant quality at half the price. I find it economical to supplement frozen meals with other dishes. This stretches the dollar and adds variety. What more could you ask for?

Overpriced food that doesn’t taste very good and is high in calories. Pushy staff.
（；へ：）
The local products are nice though!

Love their coffee! I love how they have grass-​fed organic whole milk to go with it too. I just wish they had a little seating area for us to enjoy our coffee on location…
I’ve bought the molten lava cakes and can’t wait to make them soon. They sound delicious.

My husband and i recently gave Eat Local a try. We work long hours and have difficult diets. He’s diabetic and im celiac, so finding a place that works w special diets hwas great. The staff are amazing, friendly, helpful and social. We really enjoyed our time in the store. Yet for all that the food was a disappointment.
First off the good… the greek yogurt with marionberry was delucious. Thier dairy selection while super expensive is really good.
We spent about $ 80 for a few entrees for 2 and some single servings, milk and yogurt.
The coq au vin was simply awful. No flavor at all. The chicken was tendet but bland. It was all carrots nothing else it seemed. The smell for me ws off putting.
The Pot Roast was okay but again bland, very tender though. Had to add my own seasoning.
The lasanga was ok. Not bad but for what it cost i had hoped for better.
I wanted to like it trust me, we dont have money to toss around so it was a stretch. I really wanted it to be awesome so i wouldnt have to cook every night.
Im sure there are many tasty dishes, but not sure we’ll go back. Sorry.

If you’re a vegan, the food is pretty decent but can lack in flavor with regards to the spices and end up somewhat bland. I would just spice it up after I cooked it so it wasn’t THAT big of a deal. My favorites would be the cauliflower gratin, pesto pasta and gnocchi. The least would be the borscht soup. The soups are usually great when you add your own spices to them but the borscht was… gross and not so bad. I don’t know how else to explain it. The first bites were always an immediate WHY AM I DOING THIS TO MYSELF followed by, «meh, that wasn’t so bad.»
I DO love their little juice shop in the back of the store. They have wonderful flavors and at a decent price, especially for the size. I like big ones, they’re more satisfying.

I am a huge fan of Eat Local! The food is healthy, delicious and also convenient. I like the fact that I can have a healthy home cooked meal fast. It’s been a go to for me after long work days and lazy Sundays where I don’t want to cook and do dishes.
Their customer service is fantastic. They are knowledgable and ready to answer any questions.
For vegetarians:
— I would recommend the pesto gnocchi and the jerk tempeh with braised cabbage.
For both meat eaters and vegetarians:
— I would recommend the nut loaf. It is amazingly satisfying and flavorful. Not only am I a huge fan of it but my boyfriend, who is a meat eater, can’t get enough of it.

Eat Local sells homemade, organic, preservative-​free frozen meals. There’s a cow made out of grass that greets you at the entrance, and that should tell you what you’re in for. The extent of their offerings is honestly quite impressive: single– or double-​entrée meals, snacks, soups, desserts, and alcohol.
The options are definitely a lot healthier than what you’d find in the frozen foods section of your average grocery store, but they’re also a lot more expensive: each entrée serving runs $ 9 – 10 on average. On the other hand, that’s exactly how much a serving of oil-​soaked drunken noodles from the Thai place across the street will run you. When you think of it that way, the choice is obvious, isn’t it? I definitely plan to keep a couple of their entrees in my freezer at all times for those nights when I feel lazy – like I said, it’s a lot healthier than takeout.
Speaking of takeout, it would be ideal if Eat Local offered freshly prepared ready-​to-​eat meals as well. But hey, it’s already pretty good as it is!

A hipster version of Wholefood market.
There’s a cow made out of grass in the front of the store. That sound tell you how organic this place is.
I walked around this place… it’s a food paradise for those looking for all organic, no processed food.
I was only interested in the ice cream; the lady at the counter was really friendly, and let me sample which ever flavor i wanted.
A pint is $ 5-​$ 6 dollars, but tasty though. This place is cool, healthy… but expensive

I found Eat Local to be a great concept. The business is family-​owned and they have been in the farming industry for a century or more. All of the food is made from local farms and that way you know that everything you are getting is quality. They even have vegan and other labels like poultry so that you know exactly what you are getting in your dish. These are even color-​coded to make it even easier to pick a quick meal.
I have seen numerous other businesses with the same model as this, but this one feels more luxury-​oriented and has the vibe of an upscale interior establishment like a fancy coffee shop. The prices are reasonable, though, and perhaps the biggest compliment I have to give Eat Local is it’s use of glass Tupperware as a choice of container, as opposed to the usual paper package. I don’t know how they pull this off but it is even cheaper than the paper version. The Tupperware is even Pirex, so technically you are getting a deal on some good reusable containers while you shop for an entrée. If you don’t use it is is recyclable or can be donated, which is a better option than the waxy paper that has to be composted instead. My favorite dish is the meatless meatballs.
My one complaint is that the meals do not have nutrition facts printed on them currently. This is the biggest deciding factor I use when choosing pre-​prepared meals like this. It is not that big of a deal but I just want to make sure I’m maximizing my health and protein content. The nutrition facts are online and the manager informed me that they will be printed on the labels in the near future, so let’s hope for this improvement.
One last note: the Kombucha here was the best I’ve ever had. It tasted a lot like lemonade and I’m usually not a fan of Kombucha but the stuff here is worth drinking!

Was pleasantly surprised to see such a place. The concept is great.
I tried a sample of the Mediterranean Chicken Tagine dish. While good, it seemed to be lacking spices and garlic. If all of the dishes are consistent with the one I sampled, I’d probably end up adding my own twist aka may as well cook myself.
The store is beautiful, simple, very clean, and the staff is very friendly. I enjoyed my experience in here.
However, after perusing the aisles repeatedly trying to find something that would catch my eye I left empty-​handed.
To summarize, one can pick up a quick meal to go when you are too lazy or don’t have time or energy to cook. Thing is, most of the meals they offer aren’t very hard to make. Stews, grilled chicken, slow roasted lamb. None of those really require THAT much work to make IMO.
Item = Appliance
Grilled chicken = grill
Tagine= tagine,
Stew = big pot
Slow roasted _​_​_​_​ (fill in the blank) = crock pot.
Steamed vegetables = wok or microwave
Get my drift? I feel I can probably make these dishes with minimal effort exactly to my liking, so it wouldn’t be appealing for me to pick something up to go. I also love to cook, so looking forward to making my own noms during the week makes me pretty happy.
However, I understand their audience and those they market to and think it’s an awesome idea.
You can find nutrition facts online.

Praise is due Eat Local on several accounts. First, their organic locally-​sourced food options are delicious. Second, the vast selection in the Broadway location is positively jaw-​dropping. Lastly, I saw on my receipt that shopping at Eat Local is good for one hour for free parking in their building. That’s a good thing for a parking-​starved Capitol Hill.
What caught my attention as I first entered Eat Local was the massive sculpted cow, replete with green and shiny glitter. The gal at the counter was very eager to help, but I was content to stroll slowly by myself through the store checking out their inventory. Yes, essentially everything is frozen in form, and that includes their entrees, sides and desserts.
I ended up buying the Cottage Pie, the Ham & Pea Soup, the Pork Cassoulet and the Buffalo Country Stew (which I have not yet heated up in the microwave). I do like the the labels on the front of the packages; they have enough of a product description that you will instantly know whether you want to buy the item or not.
I loved the 12 oz. Cottage Pie ($ 10.21). I found it very similar to Shepherd’s Pie. The label avers that the Cottage Pie is Prince William’s favorite. I can see why. The (16 oz.) Ham & Pea Soup was excellent. I thought the bits of bacon (not ham) were particularly tasty. The Pork Cassoulet ($ 7.86) with white beans was seasoned well, but this dish fell short because it was so dry.
Despite the shortcomings of the Pork Cassoulet, overall, food is far better than the frozen foods at your local QFC, Safeway, Whole Foods or New Seasons. But there’s no beating around the bush, Eat Local is spendy for the quantity you get. However, I did discover that (without the clerk announcing it), Eat Local gave me a 5.84% discount on my purchase. Also, there is no sales tax.